One other note of interest. The concept of apartments/condos at ground level with direct street access seen recently at the new Flats at 8300 is at The Lauren, as well. I also notice that there are below-ground "basement" units in the building, that couldn't be seen when the sidewalk was blocked off for construction. Are these guest suites (you can buy a guest suite for visiting friends and family) or are they the MPDUs?
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| Basement unit at The Lauren |
Finally, landscaping is being installed along the streetscape, which is probably also appreciated by the wild rabbits of downtown Bethesda who tend to hang out in this corridor near the Metropolitan. The Lauren is located at 4901 Hampden Lane. 1788 Holdings and Persimmon Capital Partners are the development team.
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| Landscaping in place |
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| Benches don't appear to have anti-homeless-people features found elsewhere in downtown Bethesda |
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| Mirror "L" Lauren logo door handles under wraps |
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| There is the logo again on the floor of the lobby |
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| Photobombed by Dodge Ram pickup truck |
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| Forget "Where's Waldo" - can you find the Lauren logos? |
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| Lobby ceiling fixture |
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| Before the lights came on |
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| Your high-end refrigerator is already in place |
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| Will you be one of the few who can call Bethesda's most-exclusive address home? |
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| The view at street-level |
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| Street level door |
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| Another fridge |
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| South Beach art deco balcony railings |
31 comments:
Robert - is there a way to have the photos pop up only when you open the article? Or just show 2 - 3 photos in the preview? It's hard to scroll down when there is so much. Thanks.
Even Dyer's biggest fanboy is starting to become a skeptic.
Hello fake Elm.
"The surprisingly calm weather that had area meteorologists grasping for creative explanations as to why they blew the storm forecast so badly..."
Tune in to Robert Dyer's weather hind-casts this morning and every morning...
Elm - sounds like you are the one who needs to be checked into a mental institute. Using this forum to talk to yourself...
@ 7:02 AM - and even that's assuming that "Elm" and Robert Dyer are actually two separate people.
Not a huge fan of the styling. The darker color of the renderings looked nice. This pinkish color seems dated already.
"Basement apartment at the Lauren"
Investment opportunity for Dyer's Mom!
The developer needs to get ready for a long slog trying to sell these units. The view from the street looks like normal apartments, at insane prices. I seriously doubt there's a market for $3 Million to $10 Million apartments in Bethesda.
Are the in-unit pics of MPDU's? Those don't look to be high end fridges. Nice, but fairly normal GE/Whirlpool. Not built-in Sub-Zero's or anything really nice.
8:56: That's part of what I was trying to figure out - how many, if not all, of the ground level and "basement" level units might be MPDUs or the guest suites. Your note about the refrigerator could be a clue in that direction.
@ 9:03 AM - Why don't you try contacting them, and asking that question, instead of peeping through windows in the night?
Anyone know what those weird doors are on woodmont are going to be for? They are to small for a bike, don't have locks...fits small children!
I can't decide which design I find worse, the Lauren or the Greenhill/Karr buildings in Woodmont Triangle.
10:45 It's self-serve daycare.
I sure wouldn't want that basement apt. A sure hang-out or bathroom for the street life.
Robert, what are the anti-homeless person features on the benches you speak of?
I think the Lauren is ok - I like Art Deco Miami vice style myself. Karr's stuff is bad.
Dyer, forget writing about the new multi-million $ condos. Why don't you instead Stop by and speak to every resident who's walking in and out of 8200 Wisconsin? Aldon spent plenty to build out their sparkling white brand new management office on the ground floor of the building and now it's renovations to both the Woodmont lobby and underground garage, which have been now going on for in excess of two years (and NO sign of completion anywhere in sight). Residents don't care about cosmetic lobby renovations by the way. Residents have been living in a construction zone for 2 years (for lobby renovation?!!!), have nowhere to park anymore especially now with Many of the public parking spaces being taken away in the garage across the street due to the police station construction (another story/issue by the way for many Bethesda residents), elevators are broken/not working on a DAILY basis, guests have to wait in the lobby like they're visiting a prison inmate, residents are only allowed to pick up packages (which are stored in an empty apartment) during business hours so this means you probably won't be able to get your UPS or FedEx until Saturday if you're lucky. The list goes on and on. People have been moving out in droves. THERE's a story for you to investigate.
Go look at the architecturally superior buildings Greenhill developed on Montgomery lane, the Edgemoor at 4821 Montgomery lane a 54 unit cond and the City Homes of Edgemoor.
Yeah what is going on with 8200? Would love an investigative report. Thanks Dyer!
4:20PM Agreed. The Edgemoor is a fantastic building. I love the design.
@ 12:18 PM - Armrests or other elements in the middle of the benches to keep people from lying down on them.
Why can't we get less moribund Greenhill to do more Edgemoor and less Karr design in Woodmont Triangle? :(
The six ground-level condos (G-1 through G-6) are the affordable units. These units will be 1400 sq. ft. each and will sell for $170,000. Owners of the affordable units will not have access to the amenities that the market rate owners will have and will not have access to the building through the lobby. Each affordable unit has a separate street-level entry door.
170k for a brand new condo in Bethesda? Very dumb idea
5:37 AM They can't enter through the lobby and don't have access to the amenities? I hope you're joking.
Come on everyone, the Lauren isn't bad. Not nearly as terrible as the Greenhill / Karr ugliness.
I am not joking. The six affordable units are separate from the 29 market rate units. Not much different than what you find in luxury condos in NYC. The rich have their entrance and the affordable unit owners enter through a back door. The six affordable unit owners will have their own separate HOA and will not mix with the 29 market rate owners.
Word is those boxes that are taking up Woodmont are trash receptacles for the MPDUs. Yeah, poor 1788 Holdings must have told the Planning Board that they couldn't make an "economically viable" project if they allowed the MPDU dwellers to share an inside trash recepticle with other building occupants. Lest they offend the multi-millionaire tenants by allowing them to share trash bins, they opted to REMOVE 1/2 of the PUBLIC sidewalk to house caged trash bins on Woodmont Avenue. So the long suffering taxpayers of Bethesda, the stroller Moms, and families will just have to walk on by single file. 1788 had the audacity to promise they would improve the streetscape. THIS is an OUTRAGE and it is just one example of the piss-poor development in downtown Bethesda. Another fun spot is Battery Lane and Woodmont during tractor trailer deliveries at Harris Teeter. No loading zone, off duty cops stopping traffic to direct these big rigs on our narrow, crowded streets. Ridiculous.
I can confirm that all of the street level/basement condos directly on Woodmont are indeed MPDU's. I know because I was eligible to buy one, but decided to decline for numerous reasons. They are 2 level, 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bathroom, 1400sf, for $174,000...except for the one on the far right which has 2 bedrooms but just the one level, for $153,000. All the above comments regarding not having use of the amenities, of the parking, nor use of the same entrance, the trash receptacles etc, are all accurate.
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